Telephone stand



Oct. 11, 1927.

D. w. OVAIT T TELEPHONE STAND Filed Oct.

2, 1922 '3 Sheets-Sheet 1 draw" '1 Oct. 11, 1927. 1,645,253

D. w. OVAlTT TELEPHONE- STAND Filed. cm. 2; 1922 s Shets-Sheet 2 Jazz id WU 1 645,253 Oct. 11, 1927. w. OVAITT TELEPHONE STAND Filed Oct. 2. 1922 Sheets-Sheet 3.

.Illllllll Snow toe Jared 71 0-1 2' if Patented Oct. 11, 1927. I

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

DAVID W. OVAIT'I, OF FLINT, MICHIGAN.

TELEPHONE' STAND.

Application. filed October 2, 1922. Serial No. 591,918.

. ward movement thereof; the provision of a stand supporting a spring to which anextensible cord for a telephone book or the like is secured whereby the telephone book or the like will normally occupy a position in immediate proximity to the stand, but 'may be withdrawn a limited distance to be more readily accessible; and the provision of a stand provided with a light in close proximity to and guarded by the stand, Other objects of the invention reside in the novel features of construction and combinations and arrangements of parts as more fully hereinafter set forth.

In the drawings:

' Figure l is a plan view of a telephone stand or support embodying my invention;

Figure 2 is a front elevation thereof;

Figure 3 is a cross section on the line 33 of Figure 1;

Figure at is a plan view of the brace of the stand;

v Figure 5 is a perspective view of the stand showing the telephone and light cords.

l is the shelf of the stand provided with a peripheral upwardly extending wall 2 around the sides and rear, the front ends of this wall having upwardly and rearwardly inclined edges extending from points on the shelf at less distance apart than the diameter of the base 3 ofthe telephone, the distance between the upper portions of the inclined edges being greater than the diameter of the telephone base. This wall has the inturned ears 4, extending from its upper edges at the opposite sides of the shelf to lie over the telephone base and prevent its removal from the table in an upward direction. The arrangement of the ears and inclined edges is such that the telephone base may be removed from the shelf only by tilting the telephone rearwardly and moving its base in a combined upward and forward direction.

The shelf has the depressed portion 5 of progressively increasing depth extending from its center and the aperture 6 at the rear end of the depression for receiving the telephone cord 7, and the wall 2 is cut away at 8 for the insertion of the telephone cord prior to the securing of the shelf to a side wall by the screws 9-passing through the wall on opposite sides of the cut away portion. I

10 is a rearwardly and downwardly inclined brace adapted to be secured at its lower end to the side wall by the screw 11 and secured at its upper end to the centrally 1o-- cated depending flanges 12 upon the shelf and extending transversely thereof by the bolts 18.

This brace has the recess 14: in the upper face and the upwardly extending post 15 located axially within the recess. 16 is a reel having the hollow cylindrical body 17 and the annular upper and lower flanges l8 and 19, this reel engaging in the recess 14 and being rotat-able about the axial pin 20 threaded in the post 15. The reel is yieldably held in its normal position of rotation by the coil spring 21 having the square inner end 22 engaging the square upper end 23 of the post 15 and having the eye 24 at its outer end through which the pin 25 passes, this pin being secured in the boss 26 upon the inner side of the hollow body 17 of the reel.

27 is a suitable cord such as a flexible beaded cord or a link chain having one end passing through and secured to the hollow body 17 of the reel and the other end secured to a telephone'book or the like 28, this cord passing through the hollow gripping member 29 having a press fit in the front end of the brace 10.v This gripping member has the vertical slot 30 in the lower wall of its nose or front end which is of a width to grip the cord when lowered thereinto and has the enlarged opening 31 in the upper wall for permitting of the free movement of the cord when engaging therein. The arrangement is such that when thetelephone book or the like is in immediate proximity to the stand and below the same, the cord is in the slot and held from longitudinal 'movemeut.

However, upon lifting the telephone book or IOU llO

erted by the coil spring removed. hen the party using the telephone book or the like has finished, the latter can be returned to a position in close proximity to and below the telephone stand by moving the cord upwardly to bring the same into the enlarged opening, after which the coil spring will rotate the reel back to its normal position of rotation, thereby winding the cord upon its cylindrical body between the two annular flanges. After the telephone book or the like has been returned to its normal position, the cord may then be lowered into the slot when the cord will then be held from longitudinalmovement.

h For the purpose of providing illumination to read the telephone book or the like, there is the elongated incandescent bulb 32 extending transversely of and immediately below the shelf 1, this bulb being mounted at the inner end of the transversely extending end of the pipe 33 having an end extending longitudinally of and at the side of the shelf andwithin the lug 34. The electrical cord for the incandescent bulb extends through thispipe and leads from a suitable base plug in the side wall. 35is a set screw extending upwardly in the lug 3a, and adapted to engage thepipe to lock the same with its transto the side of the lug 34 bythe screw 39, extending forwardly thereof.

versely extending end in horizontal position. ZUpon releasing the set screw the pipe can be rotated to bring the transversely extending end into substantially vertical position so that the incandescent bulb may be readily removed and replaced; To guard the incandescent bulb and at the same time prevent its light rays from extendinglaterally out and upwardly, there isthedepending peripheral flange. 36 upon the shelf 1 extending from the front around both sides and to the rear, this flangebeing cutaway at 37 for the We sage of the pipe 83. g V

To temporarily support the telephone receiver, I have provided the fork 88 secured From the above description it will be readily seen that I have provided a safety stand for a telephone which prevents accidental disengagement of the telephone but permits of its removal upon a combined upward and forward movement. Also, that I have provided an extensible cord for a telephone book or the like which is normally wound upon a reel. Furthermore, that a source of illumination to read the telephone book or the like is provided below the shelf of the stand and guarded by adepending flange which also prevents the light rays from rising. Still another feature resides in forming a depres sion in the shelf to receive the telephone cord when the telephone is being returned to the stand after use whereby possibility of the telephone cord becoming twisted is precluded owing to the fact that the telephone is returned upon the stand in the direction' opposite that taken during its removal. With this particular arrangement of shelf, the telephone cord will not interfere with the removal or replacement of the telephone; and furthermore, when the telephone is supported upon the stand, the telephone cord extends in close proximity to the side wall, thereby minimizing the possibility of the cord becoming tangled or interfering with moving objects.

What I claim as my invention is:

1. In a telephone stand, the combination with a horizontally extending shelf, of an upwardly extending wall for'partially surrounding the base of a telephone, the front ends of said wallhaving upwardly and rearwardly inclined edges extending from points on the shelf at less distance apart than the diameter of the base of the telephonefthe distance between the upper portions of the inclined edges being greater than the diameter of the base of the telephone, whereby horizontal movement of the telephone'in any direction with respect to the shelf is prevented without first guiding the forward edge of the telephone base between said upperportions' of the inclined edges of the wall, and earsupon opposite sides of's'aid wall overlying the base of the telephone.

2. In a telephone stand, thecombination with a horizontal shelf, of an upwardly ex tending'peripheral wall upon said shelf for partially surroimding the base of a telephone, the front ends of said wall having rearwardly and upwardly inclined edges ex tending from points upon said shelf, the distance between which is less than the diameter of the base of the telephone whereby the base of the telephone cannot be moved of the telephone for permitting passage of said base therethrough, and means upon said wall and formed integrallytherewith overlying the base of the telephone for preventing its upward movement.

3. In 'a telephone stand, the combination with a horizontallyextending rigid shelf, of an upwardly extending wall for partially surrounding the base of the telephone, the front ends of'said wall having upwardly and rearwardly inclined edges extending from points of the shelfat less distances apart than the diaineter of the telephone base, the distance between the upper portions of the inclined edges being greaterthan the diameter ofthe telephone base, and ears upon opposite sides of said wall overlying the base of the telephone.

4. A telephone stand having a member provided with an opening formed with a slot. a cord engageable with said slot at a plurality of points along the length of the cord and passing freely through said opening for connection with a telephone book, the width of said slot being such as to engage the cord when the latter is positioned for engagement with the slot to prevent lengthwise movement of the cord.

5. The combination with a telephone stand having a horizontally extending shelf pro- 10 vided with ineans for attachment to a supporting surface at its rear, of a sup ort upon said shelf for a source of illumination, said shelf having a depending flange extending rearwardly from the front thereof, and arranged to conceal said source of illumination and deflect the rays of light downwardly.

In testimony whereof I aflix my signature.

DAVID W. OVAITT. 

